Equatorial Guinea loading first LNG since September

Equatorial Guinea's 3.7mn t/yr EG LNG export terminal will shortly load its first cargo since late September, when feedgas supply problems constrained liquefaction.

The 174,000m³ SCF Barents LNG carrier arrived at the terminal this morning, berthing at its jetty. The vessel is under long-term charter with Shell, which also holds 3.4mn t/yr of fob supply from EG LNG.

The terminal most recently exported a cargo on 25 September — on the 173,000m³ Maran Gas Amphipolis — Vortexa tracking data show. This was delivered to Thailand's Mab ta Phut terminal in mid-October.

Feedgas supply to the terminal was disrupted from 26 September, following an incident at the Alba processing plant that handles gas from Equatorial Guinea's Alba field, as well as the Alen field, which came on line earlier this year.

Normal operations resumed on 1 November, project partner Marathon Oil said last week, suggesting that wet gas from the Alba and Alen fields could again be processed, and dry feedgas delivered to EG LNG.

Equatorial Guinea's resumption of exports could bolster LNG availability within the Atlantic basin, which has already stepped up in recent weeks as maintenance at a number of facilities ended. Aggregate LNG output from producers in the Atlantic basin rose to 12mn t in October, up from 10.85mn t in September and 9.36mn t in October 2020, according to Vortexa.

By Samuel Good